Lent 2026 and Ten Suggestions

Lent is getting close. Some may be scared, while others are ready to take it on. No matter where you stand, it is okay to be either. It can’t be both.

Lent begins on Wednesday, February 18th, with Ash Wednesday. It is preceded by Shrove Tuesday, or commonly known as Fat Tuesday.

Recently, Fr. Mike Schmitz offered ten ways to gear up for Lent to make it holy and fruitful. Here are his points, while also expanding with an idea or two to make it a fruitful Lent.

Silence every day

Just take 5 or 10 minutes to really be with the Lord. It’s important to slow down and let God speak to us.

2. Pray every day

Always pray to God. It’s essential to offer prayers for one's own needs or those of others.

3. Spend time in God’s Word - bring it more and more into your daily life

It can be as simple as reading the gospel of the day. Maybe listening to it and reflecting as you commute to work.

4. Go to Confession 

Go at least once, but really twice. Lent is the time to grow closer to the cross. Even if it means perfecting the way to him.

5. Daily Mass

Try to find one that works with your schedule. It can be a Saturday, a 6:30 before or after work. Take time to receive God’s extra grace.

6. Spiritual reading every day - pick a book

Hallow is having a Pray 40 challenge as they will read and meditate on The Brothers Karamazov.

Then there are many meditations to read on the saints or on Christ. The saints can help us grow closer to following him as they once had to learn to take up their own crosses.

7. Fast

Fasting doesn’t have to be food, and it doesn’t have to be something bad, just something you might be a little too attached to, like social media, retail therapy, or even taking part in uncharitable activities like gossip.

8. Almsgiving

Serve the poor, clean out the closets, give an extra dollar to the offertory. These are ways we learn to detach from the world while attaching to the next.

9. Invite someone to Mass

Lent is not something we are meant to do alone. It is an opportunity to hold yourself accountable and even invite someone to participate with you.

10. Go home and love your family

St. Teresa of Calcutta reminds us that we can change the world by first loving our families. Through the family, we learn about the school of love.